


Unscreened

by himmelsstuermer



Category: Persona 5
Genre: :), Kinkmeme, M/M, inconventional ways of making money, live on cam, totally anonymous, until its not
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-01-22
Updated: 2021-01-21
Packaged: 2021-03-13 14:40:52
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,174
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28905015
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/himmelsstuermer/pseuds/himmelsstuermer
Summary: He'd found a fitting platform for what he’d planned; and found, here, meant that one of the commentators had suggested it to him. He’d also thought ahead and bought some slightly fancier clothes, alongside a mask to cover his face, a bit bigger than and very different from the one he wore in the Metaverse. It made him feel safe and confident in its own way. So confident, in fact, that he found himself ignoring all his morals and the many reasons he should not be doing it, typing the words on his mind out before giving his sane mind a chance to think about them.You wanted deets? Well, you tell me then,amI hot?
Relationships: Kurusu Akira/Sakamoto Ryuji
Comments: 10
Kudos: 11





	Unscreened

**Author's Note:**

> I remember seeing this prompt on kinkmeme a while ago. I can't find it right now but it was something like "the PT need money, Akira decides to pose before a cam for some sweet cash, one of the PT finds the stream and recognizes him immediately" and that's hilarious so I couldn't just let it go.

Twenty-seven thousand, three hundred and ninety-four yen.

That was the exact price Makoto had calculated for everything they’d need to assure a safe venture into the newest uncovered section of Mementos. A shockingly high amount of money for most young people, but Akira himself had grown numb to those numbers. He was well aware that all of their contacts already gave them discounts and bonuses that other customers would not get, so he would do his part and not complain, either.

It still did raise one problem, though.

“That might be a little more than we currently have,” he admitted, solely because he knew Makoto was waiting for him to confirm her suspicions. It was wise, in hindsight, that they’d decided to go over this problem with only the two of them, instead of inviting the rest of the team. Planning and management were her strong suits, and there was no point in worrying the other Phantom Thieves with something they wouldn’t have the time to change. Each of them already did their part in providing as much money as they could. Most of them worked on some afternoons for some spare money, and they needed it for living, too.

“I’ll come up with something,” Akira decided with a nod, hoping to convince Makoto. She seemed doubtful, but didn’t dig into it, instead nodding as well. She knew he’d taken care of most of their bigger money issues on his own so far. It wasn’t like she fully approved of it, though. His attempts to convince her that working multiple part-time jobs  _ honestly _ did not put him in a bad spot or cause him any serious lack of sleep normally fell on dead ears, with her reminding him vehemently how his grades were equally important, if not more so, in the long run.

It wasn’t like she didn’t have a point, either.

He  _ did _ sleep a lot less lately than he expected most of his friends did, and that didn’t even consider the fact that he could sleep for a rough twelve hours straight if given the chance, as long as potential nightmares and a certain supernatural duo left him alone. As much as her concerns were justified, though, money wouldn’t fetch itself, and Mementos wouldn’t suddenly stop expanding, let alone people becoming any less corrupt, allowing them a longer break from Phantom Thievery.

No.

They needed a solid plan, and they needed it by about yesterday.

It wasn’t easy to get rid of Makoto, and she absolutely didn’t let off about the topics of sleep, school, free time and stress until Akira finally decided to gently throw her out of the cafe and lock it for the night. After all, it was late enough anyway, and by scolding him for at least two hours straight, she’d only helped him get even  _ less _ sleep, rather than more. He wouldn’t blame her for it, though. Besides, all the tension had caused Morgana to decide he’d stay with Sojiro and Futaba for the night instead of listening to their bickering, and that, subsequently, allowed Akira more time to come up with a plan on how to finance their needs.

And yet, nothing really came to mind.

It was true that he’d already loaded himself full of part-time jobs during various times of the day and week. He also needed to keep up appearances and not let any of the other Phantom Thieves know that he was willing to pick up even more jobs on top of the existing ones, so he couldn’t cancel any plans they had, or suddenly disagree to ever meet up with any of them, in order to work at any additional places. Logically, he needed something that could be done at variable times of the day, or specifically at night. He did normally have a cat telling him to go sleep more often than appreciated, but Morgana wanted to explore the Mementos more than any of them, so all it would need to convince him was a small speech on how much further they could push with those extra yen.

Yet, even that plan left the biggest issue:  _ What _ was he supposed to do at night time? He wasn’t some elaborate genius like Futaba, who could’ve just done anything on the Internet that included various kinds of hacking, programming, or whatever else of the sorts. Even Mishima had a huge advantage over him here, working on websites in his free time. Akira, admittedly, had neither of those talents, passions, or skills.

Luckily for him, though, he had the most important thing—resources. Most of their information regarding Metaverse-targets came from Mishima’s weird website, so Akira had learned that the Internet was an ever-useful source of approximately anything and everything.

Honestly—how hard could it possible be to find a job or something online? The only thing that mattered was finding something to do, and it being at a possible time of the day. In conclusion, he did the logical thing: He signed up on a page advertising itself as offering  _ job opportunities, suggestions and encouragement _ . What that meant in the long run, he wasn’t yet aware of, but considering the overall activity, with people answering requests quickly, he had his hopes high up. Without thinking it through too much, he typed out his problem, tried to word it as properly as possible, and went through a mental checklist once he was done.

Explaining his overall situation without too much detail? Check.

Giving hints on already having his day mostly filled by other responsibilities? Check.

The desperate need for the money and willingness to go out of his way for it? Check.

He had it all down perfectly. Was a bit proud of himself. Figuring it was already way past the time where Morgana would flip and  _ shout _ at him to sleep, he decided there wasn’t much else he could do besides wait.

No one was going to answer  _ that _ fast anyway, right?

Shortly after he woke up to his alarm the next morning, reminding him he’d have a shift at the supermarket over in Shibuya in an hour and a half, Akira quickly came to note how wrong he’d been. He half listened to Sojiro asking him if he wasn’t overdoing it with the jobs, briefly brushed it off, and absentmindedly reloaded the request page he hadn’t even closed before going to sleep.

To his surprise, there was a reply already. Well, actually, there were two, but one of them grabbed his attention so quickly that he immediately forgot about the other one. He also thanked his self-control for not letting him drop his spoon into the plate full of curry, both because he didn’t want any attention right now, and because Sojiro wouldn’t be happy about curry stains all over the counter.

Honestly, though, it would’ve been fair for him to drop that spoon, because…

He swallowed once, took a deep breath, and read the words a second time.

_ Are you hot? Try doing sexy things in front of a cam lmao. Can do it any time of the day. Life pays itself. _

That…was not what he’d expected to read, not even remotely. He thought about replying for a moment, then reconsidered. There was no point giving away more information on himself or his situation, or even showing that he’d seen the message yet. Surely, other people would suggest some less morally questionable ideas soon enough, and it wasn’t like he needed the solution right now, since he was about to head out to a different job anyway.

Unfortunately, the message stuck. Morgana kept giving him weird looks from where he was hiding beneath the register, and Akira did his best to play it off cool, but the whole concept had thrown him off-guard so much that he couldn’t stop thinking about it.

Which was stupid.

Because logically, why would he waste time on even thinking about it? Obviously that was not the kind of job he was going for, he hadn’t seen it necessary to clarify that in his search for help. It was fine to be surprised, he felt, but there was no reason to get so worked up about the idea.

Unless…

He shook his head in annoyance and was grateful a customer came up to him to pay their items. For a split second, he could get his mind off the stupidity of what was going on, and pretend to be in full control of the situation.

Then, the customer was gone, and the store was about empty, and Akira had an entirety of time to think about it. Instead of that, he decided to get his hopes up and check for further replies. Maybe someone had given a more decent answer by now? Besides, he noticed then, he hadn’t read the second reply from earlier.

As it turned out only seconds later, it would’ve probably been best to keep it at that. Instead of anything playing in his favor, the second reply was actually posted under the first. 

_ Wasn’t gonna say it like this, but that was my first thought as well LOL. OP, we need the deets. R u hot?! _

God damn it.

After returning from the shift and finishing up some school work, Akira decided to blame it all on the ego-play suggested in the words.  _ Are you hot _ , they’d dared ask. One, it wasn’t any of their concern—he was looking for a job, not curious people trying to get any details about him, his looks, or his life. Two, and that was the personally more insulting part, something about it had irked an immense need to put them in their place and be like  _ yes, I am, here, look at me and confirm it _ .

He couldn’t pin down where it came from, but it was a feeling similar to being in the Metaverse; the thought made him feel stronger, swifter, and way more confident. It wasn’t a solution to the problem he’d posted anyway, because why would he try and look good to make  _ money _ —it was exclusively about proving a point, both to them and himself. At the very least in theory, because of course he wouldn’t do anything of the likes. It was simply a nice thought to keep while he waited on more serious, acceptable answers to his actually very pressuring problem at hand. They really needed that money, and fast if anyhow possible. They had to keep pressing through Mementos and they absolutely had to make sure they were as safe as possible while doing it.

His mind was occupied trying to come up with better ways to advertise his situation, without being  _ too _ direct about what he needed money for and just how much. Even so, he tried to keep up with the Phantom Thieves chat, where they were already discussing plans to meet up soon and hold a briefing on how to advance best. Makoto did her best in leaving the conversation in a different direction, since she was aware that they weren’t prepared to move further down yet, but she wasn’t very successful. Ryuji and Ann were especially passionate about wanting to go on.

Clearly, he needed a solution even faster than he’d expected.

“You’re looking troubled every time you look at your phone, you know?” Morgana pointed out all of a sudden, while Akira had just gotten ready to go to bed, giving his phone—and his question—a final look before going to sleep. He wasn’t sure what to say, because it was true. There still hadn’t been any normal person giving him normal advice that did not include selling his own body to strangers on the Internet, and  _ that _ conversation was blooming like no tomorrow. A new reply to the threat had caught him especially off-guard, and he didn’t even know why.

_ “All jokes aside, if you dress up or cover your face, no one will even recognize you. Why am I not making money like this? Haha!” _

Ha. Ha. 

He was not having fun.

“Just trying to figure out how we can get enough money for our current needs,” he tried to clarify as vaguely as possible, and Morgana nodded, at least, but didn’t seem satisfied with the answer still.

“Sure,” he answered, tilting his head curiously. “But you never look  _ this _ worried, even annoyed. Are you sure it’s just that?”

Akira nodded, with little success. It was obvious, to be fair—he’d been living with Morgana for a very long time now already, they knew each other’s attitudes better than strictly necessary. He still wasn’t going to even remotely bring up what was wrong, both because he’d feel stupid admitting  _ what _ was bothering him, and because he didn’t want to start a fuss regarding their financial difficulties. He’d come up with  _ something _ , that was pretty much his job as the leader. 

Shaking his head, he went over his schedule instead of bothering with that pointless online discussion which he hadn’t taken part in even once ever since posting. Technically, he could pick up another job on at least one week day. He’d need to make sure Morgana wasn’t around for it to work, though, because he’d have to twist the truth a bit and pretend he was meeting a friend, or something around the lines at least. No way would a single one of the Phantom Thieves—or Sojiro, for that matter—support him picking up yet  _ more _ work. But while Akira knew and understood that, the money didn’t come from nowhere, and if anyone had to work extra hours, he’d prefer it being himself over anyone else, especially if they didn’t want to raise any suspicion on what they needed the money for. At the end of the day, he  _ was _ the new guy, and no one would question his weekly routine like that of the others.

He checked his phone without thinking about it.

_ “Maybe OP is just shy. That’s understandable, though. Guess we’ll never know… ;)” _

He didn’t know when he’d become so vulnerable to words like that, but with this, it was on.

They wanted  _ deets _ , they’d so get their  _ deets _ .

Convincing Morgana to stay at the house with Futaba was not a fun task, but necessary. They argued, and eventually it was Futaba, believing that Akira simply needed a break from having a cat sleep on his belly every night, who chimed in and said it was a good idea. He promised it would only be for a couple days, and she didn’t dig for any reasons whatsoever, which he appreciated greatly.

It was the last issue on his moderate list. The rest he’d worked on during the week, feeling stupid about it and making very,  _ very _ sure no one noticed. 

He’d found a fitting platform for what he’d planned; and  _ found _ , here, meant that one of the commentators had suggested it to him. He’d also thought ahead and bought some slightly fancier clothes, alongside a mask to cover his face, a bit bigger than and very different from the one he wore in the Metaverse. It made him feel safe and confident in its own way. So confident, in fact, that he found himself ignoring all his morals and the many reasons he should  _ not _ be doing it, typing the words on his mind out before giving his sane mind a chance to think about them.

_ You wanted deets? Well, you tell me then,  _ am _ I hot? _

Attached was a link to the stream and details on when exactly it’d be online in a couple hours. This gave him a chance to fine tune everything to perfection. The camera was focused on him without giving too much away about the room, the lighting was in favor of his figure rather than any surroundings, and he very much liked the angle, making it seem like potential viewers had to look up to him a bit…which was funny, because he was still telling himself that viewers were  _ not _ what he was going for; it was all about proving a point.

Then the time he’d set came, and he found himself confronted with the fact that even before he turned the camera on for viewers, the counter was going up. One, three, ten…people had followed his out-of-mind call to come judge his attractiveness live and upfront, and it took him a good look at himself before he was convinced that whatever happened, he was dressed up enough that he wouldn’t need to be ashamed even if people ended up ridiculing him.

Which…

They didn’t.

He had no idea why, but as soon as the stream went online, it was as if he’d awoken to yet another hidden personality. Much like as Joker, yet vastly different in action, he felt empowered by the sense of anonymity, and knowing that people were watching every single move he made. He suspected it had to be pretty boring on first sight, considering he didn’t really know what to do, but then, as if specifically trying to break the ice, someone spoke up in the chat on the side of the stream.

_ 1500 yen for an authentic sexy lip bite. I thought you were trying to make money here? ;) _

And all hell broke loose. Or was it heaven? Because as soon as he fulfilled the request, masterfully hiding his surprise over actually receiving those 1500 yen right away as a donation, more came in. Most were harmless enough, and those that put him in a tight spot, he ignored wordlessly. Someone commented on his hands after he’d brushed a strand of hair out of his eyes, complimenting how slim and smooth they seemed. He didn’t comment on it, but made sure to show them more than necessary after that, and in under an hour, it took less than a wink to make multiple people send him unreasonable donations, hoping for more.

Obviously, Akira wasn’t stupid—he was doing this out of the stupid need to prove something entirely necessary, but he wouldn’t  _ actually _ make a habit out of streaming himself posing for strangers online and sending them heart signs through a livestream. He wasn’t that desperate, after all.

Except when he finally went offline and looked at the donation page, his eyes were only short of falling out.

Twenty-nine thousand and four hundred yen.

He’d made all they needed for their equipment—and more—over the course of a couple hours, with nothing more than a couple lip-bites, touching his own face, and playing with his hair. This was not the sort of mini-job he’d been looking for at  _ all _ , but…

He’d be a fool to ignore an easy income, right? And that was, of course, the only reason he posted on the forum before turning off the lights for the night. It had nothing to do with his boosted ego or the fact that he’d quite enjoyed knowing he had the attention of up to a hundred people at once.

_ Next week, same time, same place. Don’t be late. ;) _


End file.
